Wychwood School in Oxford has hosted its third Oxfordshire Youth Chemistry Conference with students from across the county showcasing excellence in scientific communication.
The independent girls school opened its doors to public and state schools in Oxfordshire for its latest conference which was held on the theme of ‘Medical Chemical’.
Over 100 pupils in Years 10-13 attended the all-day event with guests from Wychwood, Oxford High School, Pipers Corner School, Magdalen College School, Bartholomew School, St Edward’s School, Our Ladies Abingdon, Radley College, Kings Education, St Birinus School, and the Oratory School.
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The event was opened by a message from Prof.Sarah Gilbert from the Pandemic Sciences Institute Oxford University.
Keynote speaker Prof Paul Brennan from Nuffield department of medicine delivered a talk on developing medicines for Alzheimer’s and highlighted the power of chemistry in doing this.
Other inspirational guest speakers included Dr. Nikolaos Kanellakis, also from the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Romain Guyon from the Jenner Institute and Pandemic Science Institute and Claudia Fraser and Sophie Twigger from Oxford University’s Oncology Department.
Students delivered their own presentations on a range of clinical chemistry topics. They also exhibited posters and had peer reviewed papers published in the conference proceedings
The event was supported by Alzheimers UK, The Jenner Institute, Hodder Education, Salter’s Chemistry, Medical Mavericks, and Cochranes of Oxford with the aim of bringing Oxfordshire pupils together and providing a platform for them to communicate scientific ideas, knowledge and understanding.
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Jane Evans, Head of Wychwood, said: “Pupils are our medical experts of the future, and it was inspiring to see so many embrace our conference and share their thoughtful insights.
“It’s important we provide pupils with a platform to practise engaging with audiences now as scientific knowledge and advances hold the power to change our future for the better.
“We are very grateful to our guest speakers who gave up their time to engage and listen to pupils and those who supported the event. We must thank Oxfordshire’s science teachers too, who have mentored, organised and encouraged students to make our Chemistry Conference a success. We are thrilled this event continues to grow year on year and look forward to hosting our fourth Youth Chemistry Conference next autumn.”
Plans for next year’s conference are already under way and will be delivered on the theme of ‘Chemistry Out of This World’ - applications of chemistry to space exploration and discovery.
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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF
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